I tried a Milky Foot peel to see if it would revive my scaly feet

Flaky, cracked heels be gone!

As a gal of relatively average height, having disproportionately large size 42 feet to my body is somewhat comical. Nicknames like ‘flippers’, ‘bigfoot’ and even the occasional ‘hobbit’ stuck throughout my already awkward teenage years. Every girl’s dream!

It’s not hard to see why my feet became such a huge insecurity for me. For years I have avoided cute platform thongs and strappy Maddy-from-Euphoria-esque heels each summer, kept my socks firmly on my feet during my reformer pilates classes and still occasionally inwardly cringe when hopping into bed with my partner at night. 

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To make matters worse, my feet have become progressively worse over the years. Riddled with the occasional wart and seemingly incurable dry skin from my years of ballet where I had to jam my big hoofs into a pointe shoe, I generally avoid my feet seeing the light of day at all costs.

I know what you’re thinking: ‘Just wear some damn Crocs to cover the cracked heels and misshapen toes and be done with it!’. While this admittedly does work in the majority of cases, a girl can only go without a professional pedicure for so many years.

Enter: the ‘baby foot peel’. I’d heard stories about this magical product that apparently rebirths your feet into baby-bum soft skin. I simply had to know more. Fortunately, my TikTok algorithm knows me well (think slugging and Dr Pimple Popper blackhead extractions) and after a quick two-hour scroll I was introduced to Milky Foot. I watched in horror and joy as whole pieces of skin literally fell away. I knew I had to put it to the test.

But what does it really promise?

As a self-professed skincare novice, I wanted to confirm that this peeling process is not harmful before slipping my foot into the potion. With a mixture of AHAs and BHAs, from the AHA glycolic acid (derived from sugar cane) to salix alba bark extract (aka a well-known BHA willow bark extract), Milky Foot claims to exfoliate and remove flaky skin and calluses in a safe manner. The glycerin and aloe vera leaf reportedly balance the mild exfoliating acids to leave your skin silky soft. 

The brand does warn against use for individuals with open wounds, eczema or particularly sensitive skin. While these warnings slightly concerned me, chemical peels are considered relatively safe for those with normal skin.

The Exfoliating Foot Treatment is not cheap, at almost $30 for a set of oddly shaped plastic socks. That said, with the peel claiming to gift me smooth and soft feet (no small feat), it is not hard to see why Milky Foot suggests using the product only every two months.

So were my feet truly reborn?

Slicing open the plastic socks was an experience alone. Gagging at the strong waft of chemicals, I persevered for the sake of my journalistic integrity and my desire for not-unsightly feet. Slipping into the garish, slippery interior of the plastic sock, I strapped myself in for 45 minutes of squelching around the house.

After what felt like an eternity, I finally released my wrinkled tootsies from their tightly bound plastic prisons. While rinsing my feet was refreshing, initially, I didn’t notice any major changes. Sure, my soles were feeling slightly more scaly than usually (if that was even possible), but there was none of the snake-skin shedding fiasco as promised in the packaging.

Two days of traipsing around the city in sweaty runners did not aid the peeling process. To say I was disappointed at this point was an understatement. Sure, a few layers of skin have flaked away but no more than ordinary. Are cute feet really so hard to obtain!?

But evidence of peeling began to emerge on day four. Hoorah! It was subtle – not the gruesome chunks of skin I found on TikTok, with the exfoliation only affecting the top layer of my skin. However, the hardened soles of my feet didn’t hang around for much longer. 

Around the day seven mark, I was horrified to find pieces of my foot falling onto my yoga mat during a downward dog. The experience of large sections of my skin peeling off was not painful. It felt rejuvenating and left the soles of my feet feeling supple. Shedding the layers of dead skin on my feet has undoubtedly softened them. So yes, despite the delays, Milky Foot treatment lived up to the hype. 

Unsurprisingly, a single foot peel will not remove decades of foot-related insecurity. My feet have remained large and calloused and maybe it’s a blessing. I’m slowly starting to appreciate each part of my body, including my unusually long feet. While I would absolutely slip my feet into the foot peel again for any extra bit of softness on my tootsies, I’ve decided I’m breaking out the open-toe platform thongs, peel or no peel.

You can get your own Milky Foot here.